Paul Vanden Boeynants
Paul Vanden Boeynants in 1966
Prime Minister of Belgium
In office
20 October 1978 – 3 March 1979
MonarchBaudouin
Preceded byLeo Tindemans
Succeeded byWilfried Martens
In office
19 March 1966 – 17 June 1968
MonarchBaudouin
Preceded byPierre Harmel
Succeeded byGaston Eyskens
Minister of Defense
In office
1972–1979
Prime MinisterGaston Eyskens
Edmond Leburton
Leo Tindemans
Preceded byPaul Willem Segers
Succeeded byJosé Desmarets
Personal details
Born(1919-05-22)22 May 1919
Forest, Belgium
Died9 January 2001(2001-01-09) (aged 81)
Aalst, Belgium
Political partyChristian Social Party
Humanist Democratic Centre

Paul Emile François Henri Vanden Boeynants (Dutch: [ˈpʌul vɑndə(m)ˈbœynɑnts], French: [pɔl vandən bujnants]; 22 May 1919 – 9 January 2001) was a Belgian politician.[1] He served as the prime minister of Belgium for two brief periods (1966–68 and 1978–79).[1]

Career

Vanden Boeynants (called "VDB" by journalists) was born in Forest / Vorst, a municipality now in the Brussels-Capital Region. Active as a businessman in the meat industry, he was a Representative for the PSC-CVP between 1949 and 1979. From 1961 to 1966 he led the Christian democrat PSC-CVP (which was in those days a single party). He led the CEPIC, its conservative fraction.

In 1966, he became Prime Minister of Belgium; he stayed in this post for two years. From 1972-1979 he served as minister of defense. In 1978–1979 he led another Belgian government. Vanden Boeynants then served as chairman of the PSC (1979-1981). He left politics in 1995, and died in 2001.

One of his famous expressions, in a unique mixture of Dutch and French, was: Trop is te veel en te veel is trop. ("too many is too much and too much is too many").[2]

Fraud

Convicted in 1986 for fraud and tax evasion, Vanden Boeynants was given a suspended jail sentence of three years.[2] This prevented him from pursuing mayoral aspirations in Brussels. He underwent a political rehabilitation during the early 1990s.

Kidnapping

In an incident that is still the subject of dispute, Vanden Boeynants was kidnapped on 14 January 1989 by members of the Haemers criminal gang.[3] Three days later, the criminals published a note in the leading Brussels newspaper Le Soir, demanding 30 million Belgian francs in ransom. Vanden Boeynants was released unharmed a month later, on 13 February, when an undisclosed ransom was paid to the perpetrators. The gang members were caught and imprisoned. Patrick Haemers, the head of the gang, died from suicide in prison,[4] and two members of his gang managed to escape from the St Gillis Prison in 1993.

The kidnapping was referenced in a 1989 novelty song by the New Beat band Brussels Sound Revolution called "Qui...?", which featured samples from the press conference Vanden Boeynants gave after his kidnapping.[5][6][7] It was a hit on both sides of the Belgian language border. In Flanders, Belgium, it reached the 28th place in the Radio 2 hitparade at the time for one week.[8]

Honours

Literature

  • N. Hirson, Paul Vanden Boeynants, Brussels, 1969.
  • Paul Debogne, Les Amis de Paul Vanden Boeynants et leurs Affaires, Ed. Vie Ouvrière, Brussel, 1970.
  • R. Stuyck, Paul Vanden Boeynants, boeman of supermen?, Brussels, 1973.
  • Els Cleemput & Alain Guillaume, La rançon d'une vie. Paul Vanden Boeynants 30 jours aux mains de Patrick Haemers, Brussels, 1990.
  • D. Ilegems & J. Willems, De avonturen van VDB, Brussels, 1991.
  • P. Havaux & P. Marlet, Sur la piste du crocodile, Brussels, 1994.
  • Armand De Decker, In memoriam Paul Vanden Boeynants, Belgian Senate, 18 January 2001.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Vanden Boeynants.
  1. 1 2 January 2001. Rulers. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 "In memoriam", De Standaard, 9 January 2001
  3. ↑ Dick Leonard (16 January 2001) Paul Vanden Boeynants. The Independent, Retrieved 3 April 2011
  4. ↑ Death sentence for gangsters. The Independent, 30 January 1994, Retrieved 3 April 2011
  5. ↑ "'Qui..?' van Brussels Sound Revolution". Het Laatste Nieuws.
  6. ↑ Grommen, Door: Stefan. "25 jaar geleden werd 'VDB' ontvoerd: Gemarchandeerd zoals op de beestenmarkt".
  7. ↑ "Brussels Sound Revolution's 'Qui...?' - Discover the Sample Source". www.whosampled.com.
  8. ↑ "Radio2 Top 30 Artiest: B.s.r. (Brussels Sound Revolution) | Radio2". Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "VAN DEN BOEYNANTS". www.ars-moriendi.be.
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